- This topic has 8 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by
.
- Posts
Sad to hear that he’s gone; best of a golden era, Azertyioup + Well Chief were also top chasers, as proved by their weight-carrying performances. Had the biggest bet of my life on him at 5-1 for the Arkle, couldn’t believe the odds, as he’d probably have won that years Champion Hurdle too. Remember he was fine hurdler also. Slight regret that he was never tried at further, he seemed to stay 2 + 1/2 miles so well. Would have liked to see him in King George and then Gold Cup. But great memories.
One of the greats, although it seemed to be every 4th race he fell or unseated. I think this is why you could get decent odds because his jumping was not always the most trustworthy but he was unbeatable for a while if he stayed on his feet. Can’t believe it’s 10 years since he ran his last Champion Chase. Am I right in thinking that he had a further swansong in a Charity Flat race in which he was backed into Fav and won somewhere in Ireland?
RIP Moscow Flyer
Always remember him beating Istabraq when Istabraq had that awful fall at the last fence. Don’t think I realised how good a horse I was watching that day. Heart in mouth time when he switched to fences with his falls and UR’s [bit like See More Business in that respect].
As bold and courageous horse as their has been. Truly heart in the mouth stuff and did some spectacular races. A great era indeed.
A superb two-mile chaser – number 2 on my all-time list, after you know who. Looking back at the old footage shows just how good he was. That Tingle Creek was an absolute epic, and the second QM is not so far off the scenes from last year. Plus, lest we forget, this was a chaser who could serve it up to Istabraq over hurdles – even if one of them usually turned an absolute purler in the process.
Watching this, there is a curious symmetry between then and now: the old returning 11yo former champion and the young pretender that was the fabulous Well Chief has me thinking of what may lie ahead. But for now, it’s time to say ‘thanks’ to Moscow – for being everything that we all love about great 2-mile champion chasers in their pomp.
& for those who haven’t seen this, this is worth a look:just seen the old boy the summer when I visited the Irish national stud. Unfortunately he wasn’t in the best of condition, our tour guide told us of the issues he was having. Still he strutted around happily in the large field he shared with another great, Kicking King. Glad I got to see him so close up before he passed.
A great champion.edit – if I knew how to i’d add some pics from the summer of him
So sorry to hear the old fella’ has gone.
Quite simply he was my favourite racehorse ever. He had so much class, fortitude and charisma.
As mentioned above by Befair and Titus it is generally forgotten how good a hurdler he was. He twice beat Istabraq…once at Punchestown when Isti’ fell and looked to have Moscow covered and once at Leopardstown when Istabraq was well beaten by Moscow when the great Champion Hurdler fell at the last.I still feel some anguish now as in foot and mouth year (2001) I had a £50 ew voucher on Moscow for the Champion Hurdle at 50/1. You couldn’t have kept him out of the first three with a bazooka. I still think he would have won that term, he had never ran at Cheltenham at this point and subsequent events showed he handled the track quite nicely.
Again, agreed on his Arkle price…he was 8/1 in the morning and I think I literally told everyone I knew he would win.
He was a beautiful jumper but did make mistakes early in his chasing career that put him on the deck. This led to some very hard days when you had to take your medicine after defeat. Azertyioup’s Champion Chase was particularly difficult to bear as their was a proper rivalry between the fans of both horses. Took me back to the King’s Lake and To Agori Moo era.
His jumping problems virtually disappeared after his QM unseat and ironically his first Sandown visit for the Tingle Creek when Geraghty was literally knocked out of the saddle by a falling rider was a real heartbreaker, especially if you where out over your skis, as I was, at 2/1. Moscow was blameless that day.It should be remembered how much was on the line for Jessica’s horse when he lined up to try to regain his QM title, how history would have viewed him would have been very different if Azertyioup had won that day. Moscow would probably have been seen as a middle ranking Champion who held the fort till Az’ arrived. By winning his second Queen Mother it showed it was Azertyioup who got lucky with Moscow’s unseat the previous year and the Tingle Creek triumphs at Sandown were a true reflection of the relative merits. Moscow was about a 3lb better horse than a genuine Champion like Azertyioup.
His performance in holding off Well Chief was precise, stylish and doughty. He was 11 years old.Thank you Moscow Flyer…you made me very happy.
Sad to hear of Moscow Flyer’s passing during the week. His success came slightly before I fell in love with the game but looking back at some of his races it must have been a fantastic time to be a National Hunt follower, with some epic races against Azertyuiop and Well Chief. The prospect of these three locking horns must have been mouthwatering.
The closest I can think of since I started following the game would be the bunch of two mile hurdlers that were around in Ireland around 2005/2006. There were some great races between the likes of Brave Inca, Hardy Eustace, Macs Joy, Asian Maze, Iktitaf and Al Eile, who pitched in against each other again and again, but none of these had the brilliance of Moscow Flyer.
Moscow Flyer was my favourite Irish racehorse. Had everything, speed, accurate fluent jumping (well, usually), courage and consistency. Won a magnificent Tingle Creek, overall – the best quality 2 mile chase we’re ever likely to see.
I backed him ante-post for the Champion Hurdle and remain convinced he’d have given Istabraq a run for his money had Foot And Mouth not intervened. But maybe that was a blessing, had he been “Champion Hurdler” we’d probably never have seen the brilliance of Moscow Flyer over fences.
The word “Great” is an over-used word in racing circles, Moscow Flyer was a true Great.
RIP
Value Is Everything
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.